Viva la Feminista

B................. I................. G................. .................. S................. P................. O................. I................. L................. E................. R................. S................. .................. B................. E................. W................. A................. R................. E................. .................. One of the biggest take home messages from my meeting at Mattel was that according to their research, girls want their superheroes to also save the villain. Jessica Jones blows that out of the water. Ok, sure, few of us are going to have our kids watch "Jessica Jones" as it is quite violent, deals with rape and PTSD and has some hot and heavy sex scenes. But I know that many of us comic book geeks allow our kids to idolize superheroes that they don't really know the whole story for. Take for example Xena. My daughter loved Xena well before she ever watched an episode. Di...

The feminist community has been in a battle over the use of trigger warnings on posts, books, movies, and even women's studies syllabi. But don't worry about that here because the title of today's book is TW enough: Dear Sister: Letters From Survivors of Sexual Violence edited by Lisa Factora-Borchers . I don't have a big sister, but I read through the essays as if they came from her. The essays in this anthology are about sexual violence, but there is a gentleness and love to them. I did not read every essay. This is definitely the type of anthology that you read an essay, stop, cry, and return to a few days or weeks later. Or maybe you have been waiting to hear these words for so long you binge on them all in one sitting. Lisa introduces the anthology by not only setting the stage, but also being transparent about how the anthology came to be. In a moment of brave honesty, she addresses the title’s use of “sister.” It can be a loaded word for many as it implies...

As we approach January 1st, the Tribune reminds us of new laws such as a statewide ban on tanning beds for those under 18, increased penalties for using social media to organize "flash mob attacks" and that sex education must include discussion of birth control (schools can still opt to not teach sex ed at all). But the new law I am excited to see is a law that better restricts rapists parental rights : On January 1, 2014, IL Public Act 098-0476 becomes effective. This new law has many added benefits to victims of sexual abuse who give birth to a child conceived of that abuse. Public Act 098-0476 amends 750 ILCS 45/6.5 by broadening the restrictions to include “men who father through sexual assault or sexual abuse” rather than only “sex offenders.” This important amendment means that victims no longer have to have to wait for a conviction of their attacker, which may never come, in order to terminate parental rights of a rapist. To protect against false accusation...

A Woodstock, Illinois police officer has been given a 30 day suspension (that he can take one day at a time over the course of a year) for texting his then-girlfriend's preteen daughter and asking for sexy pics: The girl's parents are furious about what they say is light punishment for a city insider who they think should have been fired. Her father, who the Tribune is not naming to avoid identifying the girl, accused law enforcement officials of hypocrisy. "He's no better than who he's arrested," the father said. And sadly it appears that the fact he used an official database to do a background check on the ex-girlfriend may be more illegal than trying to sext a 12-year-old girl.  Then people wonder why women don't trust the police. It's not just the action of this man, but the fact his superiors weight his years of service versus his violation of this girl's personal space. Good gawd, I'm so furious I can't even find the righ...

This is what you get when I'm trying to clean out my inbox and no time to write a lengthy piece about these stories: Voto Latino and Planned Parenthood Federation of America convened a panel discussion on Capitol Hill to discuss the importance of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in the Latino community. The event was especially timely as the federal government and community partners on the ground prepare for the rollout of the Spanish language enrollment website, www.cuidadodesalud.gov , this month. Every year, more than 600,000 Latinos -- mostly Latinas -- visit Planned Parenthood health centers to access health care services, including important preventive services like well-woman exams, breast health services, and cervical cancer screenings. Soroptimist, the global women's organization, presents the annual Women’s Opportunity Awards, which provides cash grants to women for education and training. The 2013 Women’s Opportunity Award winner is Aziza Kibibi .  Aziza wa...

From the NYTimes : The special grand jury convened in Steubenville had investigated whether adults like coaches or school administrators knew of the rape allegation but failed to report it as required by state law. The charges against the superintendent, Mike McVey, include felony counts of obstructing justice, DeWine said. McVey wasn't immediately available for comment, but the district planned to issue a statement later Monday. An elementary school principal and a strength coach are charged with failing to report possible child abuse. A former volunteer coach faces several misdemeanor charges, including making false statements and contributing to a child's delinquency.  I did not think anything else would come of this case, so I am shocked to see this happen. Hopefully not only justice will prevail, but this will send a clear message that those of us in education have a responsibility towards protecting students who have been harmed, not those who h...

I seriously wanted to ignore the Miley Cyrus VMA thing. But no, my good friend, Joanne Bamberger had to go and write a piece connecting the sexualization of girls to rape culture and then to the horrifying 30-day sentence for that rapist teacher in Montana. That's what friends do, read their friends' writing. I then shared it on Facebook (more what friends do) and one friend made an excellent point. Joanne had stretched just a bit too far (my FB friend thought, really far) by using Miley as an example of the sexualization of girls. See, I totally followed Joanne's logic as stated here: Even though she is 20, many of us still see her as the tween/teen star of Disney's Hannah Montana , and maintain a mental image of her as that more wholesome child, even as she struts on stage today, inviting sexual attention. Yes, Miley is 20, but the collective we still do see her as a child. That could be one reason why she's trying too damn hard to be "sexy" and ...

VLF is happy to welcome, Miyoko Hikiji , author of “ All I Could Be: My Story as a Woman Warrior in Iraq ” to the blog today. Since I am already at capacity for book reviews this summer, we decided a guest post would be the best way for you to get to know her. This is not an excerpt from her memoir, rather an exclusive essay for VLF. Miyoko Hikiji joined the U.S. Army in Iowa as a way to pay for a college education. Near the end of her enlistment contract in the Iowa National Guard and before completing her degree in journalism, her unit was called to active duty in Iraq in early 2003. Good looking at 5’3” and 120 lbs., she didn’t “look the part,” but passed all of the qualifying tests, including weapons training and a 12.5 mile march in full uniform carrying a rifle and a 50-pound backpack. The guys said it was a joke, but I wasn’t the only one that didn’t find it funny. The Iraqi men bartering for me, an American female soldier, weren’t laughing either. It was July 2003 and ...

  Just when I thought we might be turning a corner on addressing rape culture, we get a week like this: Steubenville's football coach had his contract renewed :  the city of Steubenville could have stood tall for its women and the men who cherish them and sent a strong message to its young people. Instead, it has hunkered down, burnishing its reputation as a town that cares more about football than it does about the children it will launch into the world. Forest Hills School District, outside of Grand Rapids, Michigan, is being sued for not only failing to report a sexual assault, but trying to talk a girl out of reporting it all : The complaint asserts that in 2010, a high school girl was sexually assaulted in a soundproof band room at Forest Hills Central High School by a star player on the school’s basketball team. After one of her teachers notified the principal about the assault, he discouraged the student and her parents from filing charges. But because...

then dramatically put it on the dinner table. She's nine and she gets that telling girls to not wear leggings in order to not distract boys is ridiculous *. I'm not using the term " rape culture " with her yet, but I hope I'm setting her up for that "Oh...this is what Mom's been talking about!" I didn't even address her when talking about the story. Rather I addressed the table where my husband & daughter were waiting patiently for the server to bring us dinner, "So, there's a middle school..." *OK, she is my daughter, so she might be swearing in her head, but let me believe she's immune to my foul mouth.

During the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence , I was offered an interview with Carla Koppell , USAID Senior Coordinator for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment. As a student of feminism within the federal government, I jumped at the chance. As an activist who has seen first-hand what US policy can do to individual women, I jumped at the chance. Due to technical failures on my part, I won’t be posting this as an interview, but rather as a blog post about what I learned from Koppell about USAID and their role in advancing women’s empowerment around the world. And due to my unbelievably hectic life, this post took all this time to write up! According to its website , USAID is the USA's humanitarian arm by working to protect human rights, strengthen democracy and assist in recovering from conflict, just to name a few of their goals. The Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment area is, well, focused on women's well-being. Koppell told me that over the l...

Today is not only a day for chocolates & flowers, but a day for radical acts as we work towards a day free of violence against women & girls. Fifteen years ago Eve Ensler declared Valentine's Day, V-DAY . To celebrate 15 years, she's throwing a global dance party! 1 Billion Rising. Chicago is in on the act too. And friend of VLF, Alejandra O'Leary has a special Valentine's Day tune for us to dance to How ever you celebrate today, I hope you are surrounded by love!

Dear Senators Rubio & Cruz, I hear rumors that the Republican Party, which you are members of, are looking for ways to increase their support among Latinos. While your party holds very little in common with my ethics and morals, I do want to lend you two a bit of advice. I also hear that you are opposing the Violence Against Women Act . tsk..tsk..*shakingmyhead* Hombres... You can support comprehensive immigration reform all you want and pray that it means Latinos will go red, but it won't happen when you continue to obstruct measures that help Latinas. Do I really need to remind you that Romney lost the Latina vote 23-76 ? So get on board with the Violence Against Women Act. I know it would be futile to ask you to get on board with supporting public education and reproductive justice issues , but come on, chicos, we're talking voting in favor of helping to reduce violence against women! To help you out, here are some facts about Latinas & VAWA from Lati...

During last night's college football championship game, ESPN announcers Kirk Herbstreit and Brent Musburger took some time to gawk over Alabama's quarterback's girlfriend. Not just gawk, but I think Beavis & Butthead acted cooler in front of girls better than them. See for yourself: This is shameful. First of all, let's remember that Alabama is playing against Notre Dame, who totally botched a rape investigation and many people believe they covered it up. And continue to cover up rapes connected to the football team. Second, most decent human beings are still in shock over the Steubenville, Ohio football rape case .The photo above comes from the protests held over the weekend. A little girl simply saying that she is more important than football. Her sign is not just a call to prosecute any football players who participated in the rape, but a call to stop treating her like a thing. That sign is demanding recognition of her humanity; the humanity of all gir...

Thanks to BoricuaFeminist from Boston, MA for this 16 Days post. Again, this is late due to my schedule, not anything she did! You can reach her at Twitter . Last weekend my best friend, my boyfriend and I participated in the Hot Chocolate Run in my hometown of Northampton, MA. The Hot Chocolate Run is an annual fundraising event where people run a 5k, or in my case walk 2 miles, to raise money and awareness for Safe Passage. Safe Passage provides, “shelter, peer-support, counseling, education, advocacy, legal support and community education,” to women and children who are domestic violence survivors. It was an amazing sight to see 5,500 participating, and more community members observing, in an event to bring awareness to the issue of domestic violence. Many walkers/runners wore stickers with the names of loved ones they had lost due to domestic violence. Domestic violence is still silenced in many homes and communities. It is powerful to see women, men, children and families g...

Thanks to fellow Chicagoan, Ann Santori of Half-Way to a Mid-Life Crisis for this post in commemeration of 16 days. This is posted late due to my fault not Ann's. You can reach Ann on Twitter & Tumblr . According to a 2005 World Health Organization study, at least one in every three women across the globe will be abused physically and/or sexually at least once in her lifetime. The UN designates November 25th as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and December 10th as International Human Rights Day. Since 1991, the intervening sixteen days have been designated for the 16 Days Campaign, which focuses on awareness of gender-based violence. The 16 Days Campaign, by its nature, is critical in thought and tends to focus on the specific factors that create a culture of violence. This year’s theme, for example, “highlights the role militarism plays in perpetuating violence against women and girls” as the amount of small arms in private ownership r...

Thanks to Erin McKelle from Ohio and Fearless Feminism for today's post. Gender based violence is such a huge problem in communities everywhere and it infuriates me that most refuse to acknowledge it. 1 in 3 women will be victims of domestic violence in their lifetime, 1 in 3 will be the victims of sexual violence and 1 in 4 the victims of sexual assault. Women are told by society to be careful. To not be one of these victims, to protect themselves. We are told to not dress slutty and not get too tipsy. We are constantly being blamed for our own victimization. This message is seen everywhere and is internalized to make us fearful. I think most women would agree that there is some level of fear going out alone at night or going to a rough neighborhood by ourselves. This comes from the media telling us to always be scared. That crimes happen randomly to women and that you'd better watch your back. The consequence is that women are living in constant fear and uncertainty. ...

Thank you to R. Femme (mistakenly credited for yesterday's post...sorry) for this touching post about violence within one's family. As I have never posted about such a personal topic on the internet before and this is my first involvement in the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence, I hope that those who read this can appreciate my attempt to tell my own story as well as take a stance against gender violence. I grew up in a dysfunctional household; my father was extremely abusive, not only to my mother but to myself, my sister and my brother. We never knew exactly why my father was angry but when he was, we all felt his wrath; he would scream, throw things, and all to often hit one of us. My mother was brave enough to protect us for the most part; she often put herself in between us and my father when he went into his spontaneous and uncontrollable rages. I lived with my father until I was fourteen when my mother decided to finally leave him; my mother and I moved ...

Thanks to JennaMurphy47 from Ontario, Canada for this guest post.  This post is especially poignant coming so soon after the murder of Kasandra Perkins.   I could spend days, weeks and even years discussing my outrage about acts of gender violence in my home country of Canada, as well as other countries all over the world, but I would like to talk frankly about an issue that is affecting my community right now. I live in a small city in South Western Ontario and we are about to embark on our first annual Walk a Mile in Her Shoes ® men’s march to stop rape, sexual assault and gender violence. Over the past few years I have been an active volunteer with my local women’s emergency shelter and when they had discussed launching this event in 2013 I couldn’t have been a stronger advocate. My first experience with gender violence in my community was in 2002 when a 21 year-old woman was stabbed to death 58 times by her ex-partner in her parking complex. I was a youn...

In the spirit of 16 Days merged with "Giving Tuesday," I present a list of 16 organizations that work on behalf of eliminating violence against women, as well as one handgun control organization, that you where you can give, give, give! Some also have shops, so if you still need a gift.... If I have missed your favorite, please let me know in the comments. Amnesty International Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence CARE Chicago Abortion Fund * Chicago Foundation for Women International Rescue Committee JASS National Network to End Domestic Violence National Women's Law Center Nobel Women's Initiative RAINN Say NO - UNiTE Stop Rape in Conflict suggests donating to members of their advisory committee   Women for Women   V-Day YWCA * They don't work on VAW issues directly, but many of the women who call requesting assistance are survivors of violence.